


Feel Again

by QueenSquared



Category: Trolls (2016)
Genre: Angst, Broppy - Freeform, F/M, Strawberry Sourdough, self harm (just in case), tumblr headcanon and Inside Out inspired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-09-09 03:26:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8873926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenSquared/pseuds/QueenSquared
Summary: We all know what happens when a Troll is sad, but what about when they're emotionally numb?Or Branch tries to tell Poppy that sometimes feeling sad is better than feeling nothing at all.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Based off of a headcanon by @lastoneout on tumblr.

Streamers? Check. Cupcakes? Check. Enough excitement to fuel an entire Bergen town? Checkity-check-check.

In all of her days of party planning, Poppy had never been as excited for one as she was now. Peace parties were the best kind of parties. Today was the first day the Bergens and the Trolls would have a party together. There has been a lot to do but Poppy couldn't complain since there had been so much to celebrate. One of those things being Branch's new found happiness.

 Sometimes, Poppy felt like she was more excited about it than Branch was, but she supposed she could understand. Happiness was a new concept to Branch, so it would take some time getting used to. But after that time in the Bergen pot, she didn't think much of his past anymore. Poppy didn't think she'd have to since it was, well, in the past. For her, when she pushed the problems away, things seemed to stay intact. That wasn't the way for everyone.

She was still learning that.

 On the day of the party, she had recruited all of her friends. Biggie, Smidge, DJ Suki, Guy Diamond, Chenille, Satin, Cooper, Fuzzbert, and Branch would all be there to help organize the party. Even Bridget wanted to help and Poppy happily allowed.

 There was one thing she was admittedly unhappy about though and that was the fact that Branch had yet to show up. She tried to not let it show but it was pretty obvious to the others that something was distracting her. If anything was big enough to distract Poppy from decorating, then it was a serious issue.

She hardly noticed DJ Suki coming up to stand behind her when she tore down the last of the crooked decorations.

"Alright, Girl. Let it out. What's bothering you?"

 Poppy tried to contain her jumpiness but spun around clumsily as she scoffed. Just as she was about to explain herself she noticed Satin and Chenille come to stand by DJ Suki. Not that getting to confess would be a struggle in the first place. They were just really worried. But Poppy was more worried about the party than herself.

"What are you guys doing?! There's still a lot left to do! None of the streamers are up? I haven't heard your playlist yet! I admit we're one man short but if we keep working at this pace, we're gonna cut into hug time!"

 Even though this was one of the few times Poppy was frantic, no one made a move. Instead they all eyed her smugly, coming to the same conclusion. Guy Diamond threw an arm around her.

" _Girl, something's bothering you-ou-ou,_

_What can we do?_

_You're looking kinda blanch,_

_so I'd have to guess it's Branch!"_

Diamond's prose elicited some "oohs" from the growing crowd and though Poppy was visibly blushing, she raised an eyebrow at him.

"You've been spending time with him, haven't you?" she asked. Guy Diamond waggled his eyebrows at her.

"Not as much as you have with him."

 Poppy wanted to disappear she was so embarrassed, but she couldn't hide it. Everyone knew anyway how she and Branch were enamored with each other. Though that didn't stop the entire snack pack from teasing her every chance they got. Poppy knew they meant it out of love though.

"Yeah I guess so," she giggled, blushing a shade darker than normal and sighed. "I'm sorry, guys. It's just that Branch promised to be here and he's not so I'm feeling kind of...worried?"

 All of them gasped at the negative vibe. Biggie came up to Poppy and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Now Poppy, there's no need for that. Just take a deep breath. Branch just probably got caught up in something."

Poppy grimaced at that and Biggie realized how odd that sounded. Branch was never busy with anything not concerning Poppy these days.

"On second thought, you should probably go check on him. We'll keep the dance floor warm for you."

Poppy nodded, thankful for her friend's understanding, and then began her trek towards Branch's pod.

"Thanks guys and don't worry! I'll be back by the next hug time!"

 Ever since they made peace with the Bergens, they were allowed to live in the troll tree in their respective pods. A lot of things had changed since the last lived there so many renovations had to be made, including a pod made for Branch. When Poppy realized how close it was to her own, she asked him about it and he had shrugged it off, saying that it was a coincidence. She knew he must've had to fight someone for that part of the tree. Ever since then they had been pod neighbors. She loved the idea of him fighting for her.

 When she reached his door, she knocked loud and fast but didn't bother to wait for an answer. Instead she pushed the door open and walked right inside.

"Branch? We planned this party together! How could you forget?"

 The first thing she noticed was that the room was completely dark. While that wasn't so out of sorts concerning Branch, she was hoping he'd consider changing in design. It was so drab being dark and brooding all the time.

 She heard Branch before she saw him and the sound absolutely broke her heart. She had never really heard a troll sob before and by the sound of him choking back his tears, he hadn't meant her to.

"No,Poppy! G-go away, you shouldn't see me like this."

 Poppy ignored his plea and rounded the corner into his bedroom. Branch was sitting on his bed with his knees hugged close to his chest and his face on his knees trying to muffle his sobs. That was only half of the surprise. Poppy had hoped she would never find Branch  as sad as when they had first met ever again. Her worst nightmare has come true.

 Poppy just stood there with bated breath. When Branch registered that she wasn't going anywhere, he took a deep breath and sniffled, wiping his nose on his arm.

"I-I'm sorry Poppy. I know the party is important to you but this is all just so new to me and reminds me of how things were before. I just...I think I needed this."

 Poppy watched the tears trace tracks down on his cheeks and his chest heave in short gasps. She realized that if she never stopped by, Branch would've suffered the whole night while she partied away. Overcome with guilt, she grabbed Branch's hand and thought about how Biggie had comforted Bridget when she had thought that King Gristle would never love her. He was always the best comforter.

"Just let it out, Bridget," he had said. "Have a good cry."

Branch had sobbed for what seemed like hours when Poppy suddenly heard a soft  _ping_! Looking down, she saw that her hug time bracelet was lit up. Across the room in a small container sounded another  _ping_! and Poppy ran over to grab it, pulling it off of the shelf. She rejoined Branch on the bed and pulled out his very own hug time bracelet, one he had received just a few days ago. She had told the others she'd be back by this time but she just looked at Branch, awaiting an explanation. He held it in his palm, ashamed.

"it's uncomfortable," he mumbled. "I haven't broken it in yet." Then he outstretched his arms, awaiting a hug from Poppy. She practically launched herself at him, throwing them onto the bed.

"Oh ,Branch! I had no idea. It'll be okay, you'll see!"

 He rolled his eyes but buried his face into Poppy's shoulder. She patted his back comfortingly and tried to think of other ways to help him. Truth was, she had no idea what it was like being Branch. She hadn't been all alone most of her life. If only he had come to her when they were young, he wouldn't have known either. It was now that Poppy felt grateful for always knowing happiness.

 When she looked back down on him, she noticed two things. One, he had fully regained color after expressing his feelings, but two, it had worn him out so much that Branch had fallen asleep on top of Poppy. Wriggling out from under him she was pleased to find the faintest of smiles on his face. She vowed to do anything to keep that smile standing strong. She also knew that she never wanted to feel the way he did ever. Again. And by this point she had accepted the fact that sometimes Branch had to be left alone for a while. He'd never be like any of the other trolls, but that just made him special. 

 And she had fallen in love with special.

 Fulfilling her promise to the others, she returned to the party and shoved the guilty feelings under a joyful smile.

 

*****

 

 The next day she forgot about the incident, or at least she pretended like she did. While they were out scavenging for food, Branch relentlessly tried to bring it up but Poppy dodged his questions.  He was getting increasingly annoyed and she tried not to let it bother her.

"Poppy, please. Just tell me what's wrong."

Poppy snorted. "Nothing's wrong. Like I told you the first hundred times. Did you check over there?"

 Branch walked over to her and pointed to her basket. "Your's is full. It's been full for the past twenty minutes. You didn't even notice! They've been spilling all over the place for the past half mile."

"What?" Poppy looked down and sure enough, her findings were on the ground, some of which had been stepped on. She didn't even notice the juice soaking into her feet. 

"Oh..."

 Branch looked at her with love and caring, but Poppy backed away,clutching her basket to her chest. She smiled to appease him.

"Maybe we should just go back into town. C'mon."

"Poppy-"

"Let's go, Branch." Why wouldn't he just drop it? Poppy trudged past him as if to emphasize the point that they were done and when he didn't follow her, she knew that they were.

 Poppy started to avoid him over the course of a few days. On the nights everyone went to bed, she'd  stay out later, sitting alone at the edge of the woods until Branch retreated back to his pod. She didn't notice after a while that he stopped coming out so frequently, retreating once again to the Branch he was before. And Poppy would not have that.

 The only problem was she couldn't be the one to go see him so she enlisted in some help. Cooper was the easiest to persuade so she went to him.

"I just want you to give him this invitation and tell him to go to the party."

"Alriiiight! Wait. Why can't you give it to him?"

Poppy figured she could be honest with him. "Just do it, okay? I don't want Branch's grumpiness rubbing off on me. It'll ruin the party, alright?"

Cooper frowned. "Wow, Poppy. That's cold, especially for you." He took the invitation anyway and left Poppy feeling even more guilty than originally.

This would be fine, but knowing Cooper, a lot of things could go wrong. Maybe she gave the invitation to the wrong person. Her message could be poorly received. Or maybe the party was falling apart this very instant! Oh no.

She was already starting to think like Branch.

Overcome with a horribly negative feeling, she fled the Troll tree and ran toward the Bergen town.

"It's fine. It's okay. We're okay..," she said, tearing through the leaves. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears as she sunk to her knees at the edge of town. She crawled towards the pond at the edge and splashed some water on her face hoping to clear her mind. It was freezing, much too freezing for a swim but she didn't care. All she needed was a distraction.

 The water was so cold it should have made her skin burn from the touch. Poppy just submerged herself and when she came up for air she looked down at the ripples of the water.

When the water settled, Poppy glanced down distastefully at her reflection. Normally she would have freaked out at her bland complexion but she couldn't muster up the energy to care. Instead she swam back to the edge and hoisted herself out of the pond, shaking the water off of herself like a dog. Her hair hung like loose threads, blanketing her body.

Poppy didn't notice how dark it had gotten so quickly but she couldn't focus on that very much. As soon as she got out, the air left her chest and she fell to her knees,  fingers splayed out in the dirt. Her pale, nearly glowing skin shone back at her and she tried to scream, but all the energy had been dried up. A last puff of air exited her body as she collapsed against the ground.

A troll's hair wrapped her up in it's embrace before she faded, but she was too numb to feel it.

 

*****

 

 When Poppy next woke,  she couldn't move,  but only because she was wrapped tight in a blanket. It was warmer than outside and she could see that she was in Branch's pod; it felt like dream. Even when her head lolled to the side and she could meet Branch's eyes, she couldn't make sense of what was real.

 She opened her mouth to speak but couldn't, her tongue and mind so ridiculously numb that it upset her stomach to try to think of a happy thought. There was a positive to this. There had to be a positive to this if she could just remember..."

"Poppy."

 She looked back at Branch, not even realizing that her mind had wandered. Branch sighed and motioned to her pallor.

"You want to know why this happened? Because you made yourself sick trying to repress everything. Why would you do that to yourself?"

Poppy tried to come up with an answer but Branch stopped her to read from the biggest book she had ever seen. He opened to pages that had been marked for him to go back to at a later time. This was the time. 

"Trolls are the happiest creatures in the land. If a troll should ever lose its happiness, their colors will fade and it will remain that way until they get their happiness back.

"Yeah, I know that. That's exactly what I was afraid of," Poppy interjected. Branch gave her a dull frown before he continued.

"However, no being can live without the protection of sorrow in one's life, for sorrow provides us with our ability to respond. If one should ever try to alter this their bodies chemistry could be compromised and instead of gray their color will fade to a pale white. The stress of fun balance between happiness and unhappiness results in the damage of a Troll's health."  Branch slammed the book shut and glared at Poppy.

"You've felt afraid. You've felt confused, you've felt angry and you've definitely felt happy. Why should you be afraid to feel sad once in a while?"

"Because I don't want to know what it feels like!" Poppy blurted. "You've been like that all these years and you ended up alone!"

 Tossing the book away, Branch got down on his knees and outstretched his arms. "I'm not alone now. Neither are you."

 The sobs escaped her mouth just after she realized this was true and just before she hugged Branch in a tight grip. Sometimes he'd get mad whenever someone would hug and when it wasn't hug time or when he wasn't wearing his bracelet. For Poppy, he'd shove aside his indifference.

Branch watched with mixed emotions as Poppy's skin grew darker with each heave, but that was a sign that her breathing was getting better. Tears flowed freely down her face as if they had been trapped forever and she clung to Branch like he was her lifeline but he didn't care. He was just glad he was getting his Poppy back.

 When the worst of the tears seemed to be over, he turned her face upward with his hand so he was looking at her shimmering eyes. He smiled fondly.

"I love you, like, a lot. Okay? Please talk to me if you need it. Even if it doesn't look like I care, I do. And I promise I won't drain the life out of any party ever again, understand?"

 Poppy let out a choked laugh at that and once she realized how good it felt she laughed again. She still clung onto Branch,but she felt warmer now and he buried his face into her cottony hair. When he emerged, she had fully regained her bright, rosy color. Branch ran a thumb over her cheek to make sure it was there to stay and Poppy turned her head to kiss his hand.

"I do," she replied. "I finally do."

**Author's Note:**

> If you got this far you deserve a medal. Thank you:)


End file.
